Been a few weeks since I posted. I hoped you missed me. 🙂 Here is something that I wrote a few weeks ago on my last day on the Betel England Mission Trip.

I am here today at Warwick Castle having tea at the tea house in the conservatory. England is beautiful. This place is beautiful. I hear the lovely sound of the fountain in front of me, the sound of peacocks, and the sound of happy families enjoying their Saturday adventures. Ahead of me are beautiful gardens and the Avon River. It’s a bit chilly, but I wanted to sit outside. Two peacocks walk by and the whole scene is like something out of a Shakespeare sonnet. The only thing missing is my kids and hubby.

Today I just wanted to reflect on my week in Betel and on this leg of my journey in life. I have always wanted to travel. For as long as I can remember I have wanted to travel. I have always wanted to walk in the places where great people have walked and England has been on my list since I was a teenager. As I sit here today, I think, wow, I am here, but I could never have imagined it would be like this.

Better than a holiday, I have spent the week with truly great people. Beautiful people. People who carry something that I want to carry. They carry brokenness, transparency, humility, and an incredible hunger for God. They carry His love and His grace. This place that I am sitting is beautiful, but not nearly as beautiful as the people that I have spent my week with. They have left me full and transformed. I know that I will never be the same. For as much as I served them and ministered to them, they have returned tenfold, ministry and servitude to me. Words cannot begin to describe my gratitude.

As I sit here, I think about the journey of life. I think about how what we want and ask for are often not nearly God’s best for us. What he has for us is so much more than anything we can imagine. The scripture in Jeremiah comes to mind. It has been spoken many times this week, but today it has a fresh new meaning to me. It means trust Gods plans, because he knows me. He knows my heart. His thoughts of me are good ones. He wants to touch me in such a way that I a left wanting nothing more, but still have hope for the future. His plan is beautiful.

Jeremiah 29:11 For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the Lord,
thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope.

As a young girl, when I dreamed of traveling and coming to England, I never could have imagined that I would come to minister to people. I also never could have imagined that I would be the one who was truly ministered to. Life’s a funny thing. I often wonder how often God smiles at us and says oh my child, if you only knew… I’m grateful that he has those plans for me. I’m grateful he has taught me to trust him. I’m grateful for this place. I’m grateful to be used for his kingdom. But above all else I am grateful to be his child and to have his journey for my life laid before me.

So thank you Betel, thank you England, and most of all thank you God for the plans you have for me.

My friends I want to encourage you. If you are in a leg of your journey that is hard and you don’t know what lies ahead, just keep on trusting God. Let him lead the way. And though you may not be able to see it right now, in the not too distant future you will look back and it will all make sense. So hold on and know that Gods plans are good ones. Be blessed my friends.